Goodnight Kiss
by MoreCowbell
Summary: A short re-write of Tsukushi's "sleepover" in Vol. 10


Goodnight Kiss  
by Trish (trishlovesedison@hotmail.com)  
  
--------  
  
Since I didn't update for a long time I decided to double upload  
to make up for it. This is a story I wrote months ago. I thought  
it was really crappy then, but I fixed some stuff, and now I  
think it's just 'kind of' crappy. Haw, haw. I joke, I joke. I  
don't think it's that bad. But nothing really happens. It's a  
re-write of a scene from the manga that I really liked. And I  
tried to put more thought behind it. It's a oneshot, so you  
don't have to worry about me temporarily abandoning it. But  
PLEASE REVIEW! It would make me super happy!  
  
Oh yeah, and Handan belongs to Kamio-sensei. Spoilers for  
volumes nine and ten (the Kin-san volumes).  
  
--------  
  
It had been a strange night, to say the least. His heart had  
been on an emotional rollercoaster since he'd stepped foot in  
her neighborhood. Just walking down the street to her house made  
a warm, but not unpleasent, feeling spread throughout his body.  
  
They'd walked down this street together once. It was summer.  
Vacation was about to start. She was recovering from an illness  
she blamed on him, but her mother forced her to walk him to his  
car anyway. Her face was flushed from a slight fever, her hair  
was limp, and she was dressed in a T-shirt and shorts, but there  
was not another woman he'd ever wanted to kiss more. But nothing  
was to come from this want. She was sick and even if she wasn't,  
she wouldn't have let him touch her anyway, so he'd had to  
violently suppress the urge.  
  
When he saw her earlier that night, he didn't know quite what to  
say to her, so he'd followed her instead. She was wearing a  
dress which he thought she looked good in. She'd also gotten her  
hair done. It was... bouncier. He couldn't recall a single time  
she'd ever done herself up for him. He was so busy obsessing  
over this, he didn't realize that his stalkee had become aware  
of him-- her stalker.  
  
So the kick to the face-- like the one she'd given him that  
first time-- came as a suprise.  
  
Doumyouji rolled over on the uncomfortable futon. Makino was  
facing the other direction. He wondered if she was still angry  
about his having accidently looked while she was changing. Even  
though he'd immediately rattled on about how she had an  
unattractive body, the truth of the matter was that the thought  
of her naked was actually very appealing to him. She wasn't  
busty like Sakurako. She was very petite, not tall and elegant  
like Shizuka. And maybe it was because her family was dirt poor,  
but Makino seemed a little skinny too, not curvy like Akira and  
Soujiro told him women should be.  
  
But, despite all her shortcomings, when he'd caught a glimpse of  
the ivory white skin she usually went out of her way to conceal,  
something jolted all the way through him; from his head to his  
toes.  
  
He wondered who else had seen her like that. The blonde German  
guy had, but it had been all a part of Sakurako's scheme.  
Makino, he later learned, had been drunk and unconscious the  
entire time. Rui had assured him that nothing had happened  
between the two of them. So he doubted he'd seen anything  
either...  
  
Makino was too much of a prude to show anything to anyone unless  
she was sure she was going to marry them. On their date, she was  
ready to have him arrested for assault when he'd embraced her.  
That date had been one of the best and worst experiences in his  
life. She'd made him wait in the snow for four hours... But the  
smile on her face when she offered to treat him to tea was so  
sweet, it made up for it completely. Then, because of how cheap  
she was, they'd gotten stuck in an elevator overnight. But  
because of his fever, she'd let him rest his head on her lap  
while she fussed over him. He'd nearly stolen a kiss from her,  
which was progress. But he hadn't actually kissed her.  
  
Rui, he knew, had also gone on a date with Makino. The quiet boy  
hadn't said anything about it, but she'd accidently let it slip.  
Doumyouji remembered how he used to torture himself by trying to  
imagine what could have gone on between them. He knew the  
logical thing to do was to simply ask Rui what had happened, but  
a part of him really didn't want to know what they'd done. That  
way, he could still hope that she was just as much a prude with  
Rui, as she was with him.  
  
The thought of dating and Makino suddenly triggered a memory in  
Doumyouji's head. That night, when he'd confronted Amakusa, the  
politican's son had wanted to return something to Makino. He  
supposed that she could have leant that something to him at  
work, but why would he return it at night? Especially after it  
had been raining? When he saw Amakusa, the boy's clothes were  
damp, which meant that he'd probably walked in the rain...  
Walked in the rain for Makino? More likely, he'd walked in the  
rain WITH her, since she was wet too, and dressed up for a date.  
  
Doumyouji stared at Makino's back for a moment, trying to pick  
out the right words to say. Language and conversation weren't  
his best points, he could admit. He'd often mispronounce words  
or use them incorrectly, or else he'd say something which those  
ultra-sensitive types called 'rude' or 'inappropriate'. Both  
would earn him smacks to the head by his sister or the F3.  
  
But he and Makino were sort of on good terms. She hadn't tried  
to emasculate him after he'd seen her topless, and she'd let him  
sleep in the same room as her. He was almost certain that she'd  
try to figure out a way to throw him out of the house without  
her parents catching wind (strange though it were, Doumyouji had  
never been so happy to meet such blatant gold diggers). The last  
thing he wanted to do was to turn her neutral mood, sour. So, to  
prevent any serious arguments, he actually thought about what he  
was going to say before he said it.  
  
"Makino," he said her name first, hoping she hadn't fallen  
asleep.  
  
"Hmmm?" she rolled over so that she could see his face. By how  
quickly she responded, he surmised that she'd been awake next to  
him the entire time.  
  
"Were you on a date with him tonight?" he asked.  
  
There was a brief delay before she answered, "It wasn't a date."  
Her tone was more stubborn and irritated than sincere, so he  
didn't know if he could trust it or not.  
  
"You had your hair curled and everything," he pointed out.  
  
Makino's expression had become even more agitated, "It's not  
what you think!" she insisted.  
  
"Did you guys hold hands?" As per usual, Doumyouji jumped to his  
own distorted conclusions. Of course they went on a date. Of  
course she's lying to you. You were away for three days and  
she's already forgotten about you. Images of the two of them  
together flashed through his head. Irrational anger and jealousy  
was starting to make his blood boil. "Did you kiss?"  
  
"No, we didn't!" she snapped, turning her body to face the wall  
instead of him, like a child having a temper tantrum.  
  
He didn't say anything at first. He just looked at her again.  
Her rich brown hair, still slightly wavy, was spilling over her  
pillow. She had the blankets pulled up to her shoulders,  
concealing her kitty cat pajama's. Like that night she'd walked  
him to his car, he wanted to kiss her... Those three days he'd  
been away he missed her terribly. Of course he'd seen her  
occasionally before that, but he'd been under the impression she  
was dating Rui. And he'd accepted that only because he wanted to  
see the two of them happy. But all throughout his stay in New  
York he thought about her. He missed her. Nothing happened  
between her and Rui. Rui has used her to get over Shizuka, and  
although Rui did have a special place in his heart for her, he  
didn't love her the way he knew his bestfriend did.  
  
And Makino... What was it Rui had said? "I think she loves you."  
He didn't elaborate much further than that, but Rui wouldn't say  
something so potentially damaging to his emotions unless he was  
serious... Especially not after all that had happened.  
  
But Makino never showed much-- if any-- interest in him. But she  
was an odd girl. She did odd things. Maybe she loved him in her  
own way.  
  
"How did you feel when I left?" he asked, part of him desperate  
for an answer, any answer, good or bad. The other part of him  
was afraid to hear what she had to say.  
  
Makino didn't move an inch. "What?"  
  
"Were you glad, like you said you'd be? Or... Were you lonely?"  
  
There was no answer. If it had been several months ago, Makino  
would have immediately started ranting about how terrific the  
Doumyouji-free days had been, and how disappointed she was that  
he'd returned and ruined everything. But now, after a  
declaration of war, a kick to the face, a lecture from a  
no-brand woman, a first kiss in the dark, a momentary loss of  
control, a love confession, a betrayal, and so many other  
emotionally-charged events, she didn't say anything at all.  
  
And for some reason, that gave birth to a feeling of great  
optomism.*  
  
"Nevermind," he said, not wanting to press the subject too much.  
Silence was probably the best he'd get from her now anyway.  
"Let's get some sleep." he said, shifting his body so he was  
facing the wall.  
  
She apparently agreed with his suggestion, because she wished  
him a "goodnight" a moment or two after. But she didn't turn to  
say it, he could tell, because he didn't hear her sheets rustle  
or anything. It was just as well, because he didn't turn to  
receive it. But he wondered what was going on in her head; if  
she said it because a tiny part of her cared about him, of if  
she was just polite.  
  
It was several minutes later. Aside from the sounds of her soft  
breathing next to him, the room was filled with a comfortable  
silence. Quietly, he slid out from the futon, crawling over to  
where she lay, asleep and completely vulnerable. He really just  
wanted to look at her when she wasn't looking pissed off or  
annoyed. But seeing her this way, he couldn't help himself.  
  
His hand reached out to touch the side of her face. Her cheek  
was still as soft and smooth as the last time he'd held it  
against his skin. He wondered if it wasn't the only thing that  
was the same... And acting on this curiosity, slowly, silently,  
he brought his face down to her's, pressing a soft kiss against  
her lips.  
  
No matter how much control a person had over themselves, there  
were just some things that were impossible to resist, and not  
worth the trouble of trying.  
  
--------  
  
-Since the Atami event, the Makino family moved (several  
times!). But I forgot that so I'm just pretending they moved  
down the street or something.  
-*I think that sounds REALLY weird. o.o Maybe I should have  
phrased it differently...  
-The last sentence kinda relates back to times where he  
exercised control over himself and DIDN'T kiss her. I know  
that's not made clear, that's why I'm putting it here now. ^_^;;  
-About the title: It's dumb but since this story doesn't really  
have a theme it was hard to name. 


End file.
